Belonging
by Shelley101
Summary: Sequel to Destinies. Three months have passed since Paris moved in with her sisters but she feels like she doesn't belong. Piper is disappointed in her, no matter what she does, Paige is too busy with work and Phoebe is too busy with Cole to notice her. Can Prue get Piper, Phoebe and Paige to understand Paris or will the Power of Four once again be the Power of Three? (AU)
1. Officially Sisters

**A/N:** This is the sequel to Destinies so if you haven't read that, I recommend you do. It has been three months since Destinies took place so the first Source has been vanquished by them and now Cole is the Source but none of the sisters know. Phoebe and Cole are engaged. It is set somewhere between 'The Three Faces of Phoebe' and 'Marry-Go-Round'. Sorry that it's been like 3 and a half years since I wrote Destinies – I just couldn't get the inspiration to write this. Enjoy!

 **Chapter One: Officially Sisters**

Piper and Paige were in the Manor, loudly discussing their plans for the day.

"It makes sense if I take her to Social Services Paige, it's easier for me because it's closer to P3," Piper insisted.

"But Piper, I work there, I don't want to go all the way to the clinic just to have to go back to work when I could just go straight to work," Paige replied.

"Paige, why do you always have to be so difficult?" Piper asked her sister.

"Me? Difficult? You're the one being difficult," Paige answered.

"You're both being difficult," Paris interrupted, coming into the kitchen and sitting down at the table. She helped herself to a slice of toast.

"I agree," added Phoebe, following Paris into the kitchen and making some coffee.

Cole, who had been standing listening to their argument the whole time, decided he should probably intervene.

"You do realise the clinic are going to _phone_ with the results, right? You don't have to go all the way there," he said, matter-of-factly.

"How do you know that?" Paige asked suspiciously.

"Paige, don't go there," Phoebe snapped in her fiancé's defence.

"Well, yesterday the clinic phoned and were going to give you the results but no one answered so they said they'd call back today," Cole explained.

"What? And you didn't tell us?" Piper yelled angrily.

"I'm telling you now aren't I?" Cole asked innocently. As if by magic, the phone started ringing. Paris' stomach clenched and she wished she hadn't eaten that slice of toast. But why should she be nervous? She knew the answer already.

Piper picked up the phone. "Hello?" Phoebe and Paige crowded round her, trying to hear what the person on the other side was saying. "Yes thank-you" Piper continued. "Right…" "Yeah, okay. We're ready,"

Paris held her breathe. All of a sudden, Phoebe and Paige started squealing in delight. Even Piper was smiling a little. "Thank-you, goodbye,"

Piper, Phoebe and Paige all rushed over to Paris to hug her and tell her the good news.

"I knew it!" screamed Paige. "Ever since I laid eyes on you, I knew you were our sister. We didn't need a clinic to confirm that,"

"But they had to Paige, it's the law," Piper said, sternly.

"So, who's taking her to Social Services?" Cole asked, crushing all their happiness with his words. How could they forget? They still needed permission to look after Paris, even if they were sisters.

"We all will," Phoebe decided. Piper and Paige nodded in agreement. Paris couldn't keep the smile off her face, her three sisters were willing to go to Social Services and they all wanted to be there for her.

"Right then," Piper said. "Let's go. We'll take my car. Paige, you can orb home after work can't you?"

"Yeah," Paige answered vaguely, she was getting nervous. But, she was Paris' social worker. It was up to her where Paris went. Or was it? Maybe Mr Cowan would think it was too personal or biased. Paige would choose what she wanted, not what was best for Paris. But living at the Manor was best for Paris; she could be safe from any demon attacks that way. But Mr Cowan didn't know that.

"Paige?" Paris asked. "You coming?" Paige snapped out of her trance and realised her three sisters had already walked out of the door.

"Yeah," Paige replied, grabbing her coat and bag and shutting the door behind her.

~~PO4~~

When the Halliwells arrived at South Bay Social Services, Piper tried to park as close to the entrance as she could.

As they all got out and headed for the main door, Paris hung back a little. Paige noticed her gesture and could tell that her sister was nervous.

"What's up?" Paige asked Paris as happily as she could manage.

"I'm scared Paige; what if they don't let me live with you? What if I go to a foster home and a demon attacks? What if—" Paris rambled, letting the fear show in her voice. Paris was no longer troubled by Paige knowing what she was feeling or when she was scared. She still didn't trust Piper and Phoebe but Paige was certain that Paris would eventually.

Paige cut her off mid-sentence. "Paris, you don't have to be scared. I'm your social worker; it's up to me where you go," she explained with false certainty. As much as Paige feared she would not have a say in her sister's future, she could not let Paris know. She was scared enough already.

The fear however, must have shown in Paige's facial expression though because Paris still wasn't convinced.

"But how do you know, Paige?" Paris insisted.

"Darryl will be there too. He knows that it's important for you to live with us; for your protection and for the Power of Four," Paige replied, trying just as hard to convince herself as well as Paris.

"Come on guys!" Phoebe called impatiently from inside. Paris and Paige could see Piper looking angrily in their direction and Paris, who was still slightly wary of her, sped over to where Phoebe and Piper were standing. Paige however, strolled casually towards the entrance as if she didn't have a care in the world. Of course, she did but she was just trying to annoy her sister even more.

~~PO4~~

"Ahh, Miss Halliwell," Mr Cowan sighed, looking at Paige. "And…" he paused, taking into account the rings on Piper and Phoebe's fingers.

"Mrs Halliwell," Piper filled in, just as Phoebe said:

"Miss Halliwell," Mr Cowan nodded in understanding.

"And of course, Paris," Mr Cowan finished.

He put a comforting hand on Paris' shoulder. Paris didn't want it there but if she had shrugged it off, it would have been rude.

"Right, Inspector Morris is already waiting so if you would follow me," Mr Cowan said. He finally took his hand off of Paris' shoulder and led the way to his office.

Although Paige had worked here for a good four years, she still felt like an intruder as she wondered how Paris was feeling.

Paris was nervous; she just wanted the meeting to be over and done with. She wanted to live with her sisters at the Manor and help fight demons like she had done for the past three months. She just wanted to forget everything about her demonic 'mother'.

~~PO4~~

They all made their way into Mr Cowan's office and saw Darryl sitting and waiting for them. Mr Cowan got chairs for Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Paris and sat down in his own chair behind his desk.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Mr Cowan asked the five people sitting in front of him. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, turning to Paris who sat between Darryl and Paige. "It has come to my attention that your adoptive mother, Joanne Lacey, has been missing for the past three months," he started.

Paris nodded but did not look up, so he continued talking. "I am very sorry to hear this and I am glad you have found your biological family but that does not automatically put you in their care,"

"What if we want to look after her?" Phoebe insisted.

"That doesn't matter, obviously you need to want to look after her but there are other factors. Paige, I thought you would have explained this to them," Mr Cowan replied, disappointed.

"Don't start blaming Paige for not telling us your stupid rules!" Piper yelled, losing her temper.

"Now, Miss Halliwell—" Mr Cowan started, trying to calm her down.

"It's Mrs Halliwell," Piper snapped rudely.

"I apologise but you have to look at this from an outsider's point of view," he tried to reason.

"Why? What good will that do?" Phoebe shouted. She was getting frustrated; how were outsider's supposed to know about demons and warlocks? This was getting them nowhere.

"Mr Cowan, I'm Paris' social worker, so surely it's up to me where she goes? I have to decide what's best for her," Paige said finally.

"Not necessarily Paige, you know that. When it is this personal, other people have to—" Mr Cowan stopped mid-sentence and Paris realised Piper had frozen him.

"Piper!" Paige shouted, she had also noticed. ""You could have blown him up!"

"I can control my powers now Paige," Piper sighed as she unfroze Darryl only.

"Piper!" Darryl exclaimed, surveying the scene before him.

"What? I wasn't going to blow him up!" Piper replied, annoyed.

"Someone could walk in at any moment!" Darryl said, exasperated. He quickly stood up and rushed over to the door to pull the blind on it down.

"He was getting on my nerves. Is this guy seriously your boss, Paige?" Piper asked.

"He's not that bad," Paige insisted.

"He's just very passionate about his job. How is he supposed to know I'll die if I don't live with you guys?" Paris added.

"What?" Darryl questioned, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Look, can you just unfreeze him?" Phoebe pleaded.

"Fine," Piper sighed in defeat. She flicked her wrists and Mr Cowan unfroze.

Darryl, who had realised the Halliwells needed to look after Paris just as much as they wanted to, decided to get down to business.

"Mr Cowan, my partner and I have looked at all the possible evidence of Joanne Lacey's whereabouts. We have searched high and low for any clue to where she has disappeared to but we still have not found her. I believe that Piper, Phoebe and Paige Halliwell will be able to care and look after their new found sister until we have any further information regarding where Miss Lacey is," Darryl explained.

Paris looked down at her lap, she didn't want to catch anybody's eye; it would make her more nervous than she already was. Mr Cowan thought for a moment before replying.

"I can see where you are coming from Inspector and agree with what you are saying: I believe that Paris' three sisters should be able to look after her and I have decided that they will," Mr Cowan said, breaking the deathly silence.

Piper and Paris both let out a small flicker of a smile, delighted at what they had heard. Paige and Phoebe let out long sighs as they realised they had been holding their breaths the whole time Mr Cowan and Darryl had been speaking. Darryl was pleased for the sisters; they deserved some happiness after all they had been through.

"However," Mr Cowan started. "You have to understand that this is temporary: once your mother has been found, you will go back to living with her. Of course, if Joanne does wish for you to keep in contact with your sisters, you will be able to," he finished.

Paige nodded gleefully, a wide grin on her face. "Thank-you Mr Cowan, thank-you so much!" she said happily. Piper's small smile had turned into something more noticeable; it showed the happiness she felt. Phoebe squealed in delight and leapt up to hug Paris.

"Paris!" she shouted. "We're officially sisters!"

 _Yeah,_ thought Paris to herself, truly happy, _officially sisters._ She returned her sisters' grins and for one moment, forgot about everything that had happened to cause this. She forgot about meeting Paige for the first time, she forgot Leo healing her, she forgot about vanquishing her mom. She was truly happy.


	2. Potion Practice

**Chapter Two: Potion Practice**

It had been two days since Paris had officially moved into the Manor to live with her sisters. And, now that the Charmed Ones no longer had to worry about the Source, Piper had decided to give Paris a lesson in potion making so that she was fully prepared for any other demon attacks.

"So, after mixing your potions, what's the best method to preserve any unused sea slugs for future use: A) Pickle them, B) Sugar them, C) Smoke them or D) Freeze dry them?" Piper asked.

Paris didn't answer. Instead, she was telekinetically rearranging all the jars on the kitchen table, bored of learning about the basics of potions.

Piper, on the other hand, was getting bored of Paris' low attention span. "For goodness sakes Paris! Concentrate!" she snapped, catching a bowl of powdered mushroom in mid-air and putting it back on the table.

"What? It's not like I need to know any of this stuff. You and Paige always make the potions." she argued.

"But what if, for whatever reason, Paige and I can't make the potion? What would you do then?" reasoned Piper; not actually saying what she was thinking out loud for fear that it would come true. But what other reason, apart from them dying, would mean they couldn't make a potion?

Paris, sensing what Piper was getting at and trying to make light of the situation said: "Ask Phoebe?" half-heartedly, not really in the mood to be sarcastic and witty.

Piper tried to smile at her youngest sister's comment but couldn't get the thought of her and Paige dying out of her head.

~~PO4~~

Meanwhile, Phoebe was in the basement with Cole, who was trying to teach her the basics of martial arts so that she would be prepared for whatever evil may come knocking at their door.

"Why did you never teach me any of this stuff before? It probably would have been more useful when the Source was a danger, but we vanquished him already." Phoebe insisted after beating Cole in another combat fight. "Are you just letting me win?" she asked with a smirk.

"Stop talking, you'll get distracted." Cole ordered.

"Look," Phoebe started. "I really appreciate you teaching me all of this honey, but I don't need to know it."

"You never know when you'll need to fight or who you'll up against; it's good to be prepared." Cole replied.

"So why aren't you teaching the rest of us?" Paige asked suddenly from behind them, making Phoebe jump at the sound of her voice.

"Jeez Paige! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Phoebe asked, turning round to face her sister. Paige didn't answer.

Instead, Cole replied: "Piper told me she didn't want to learn how to fight as she's already at an advantage with her active power. Phoebe, on the other hand, only gets premonitions which aren't particularly useful in the actual fight against a demon. Plus, her levitation gives her an advantage when fighting." Cole quickly explained to Paige, eager to get on with his fiancés training.

"But what about Paris and me?" Paige asked, not satisfied with the ex-demon's answer.

"Paris doesn't even know how to make a simple potion so Piper wants her to learn the basics of witchcraft and get to grips with her telekinesis. It's a hard power to control but probably harder for her because she's just a kid. For the past 3 months, she just copied what you did because there wasn't enough time to properly train her before the Source came but now, there's plenty of time." Cole explained. "And anyway, like you, she may not ever develop the ability to fight without her powers because of her Whitelighter half. You're both half-pacifist so there's no point in me ever teaching you how to fight because you probably wouldn't learn anything."

Paige looked annoyed at what Cole had just said and turned around to head straight back upstairs but before she left she added: "I guess I'll just have to teach myself how to fight." And with that, she orbed off.

~~PO4~~

Piper and Paris, who were still in the kitchen, were arguing once again.

"Come on Piper, this is so tedious! Why can't I practise orbing with Paige or learn how to fight with Phoebe?" Paris begged her oldest sister.

"Because, knowing how to orb is completely pointless if you have no potion because in order to orb to a demon, you need the potion to vanquish it. Besides, Paige already knows how to orb so you don't really need to." Piper repeated for the third time in 15 minutes.

"But all of you already know how to make potions so why do _I_ need to know?" Paris asked again.

"We've already had this conversation Paris and I'm not telling you again: you're learning all of this stuff because I said so and next week you're going to have a test on it so you'd better start paying attention." Piper said.

"But –" Paris started to argue but was cut off by the telephone ringing. "I'll get it!" Paris yelled, too loudly for indoors, as she quickly stood up, desperate for any excuse to stop learning about potions.

"Stay." Piper ordered, pushing her back into the chair. "Read through your notes and don't touch anything." she continued as she left the kitchen to answer the phone.

"You're no fun!" Paris shouted after her.

Already bored of waiting for her sister to return, Paris picked up a bunch of random ingredients off the kitchen table and started adding them to a pot. Just as she picked up the powdered toadstool, Paige orbed in and Paris couldn't help but say: "I wish I knew what it was like to be Paige or Phoebe." As she added a big handful of powdered toadstool into the pot.

"No!" Paige yelled. But it was too late: suddenly, there was a cloud of grey smoke coming off of the pot and Paris and Paige collapsed onto the floor.

Paris woke up with a pretty bad headache which she guessed was from landing on the kitchen floor but when she opened her eyes, she realised she was no longer in the kitchen but in the basement, with Cole standing right over her.

"I must have orbed here." Paris thought out loud. Cole just looked at her, confused.

"What are you talking about Phoebe? You can't orb." he said.

"Did you just call me Phoebe? How did I get down here?" Paris asked.

"You must have hit your head pretty hard, Pheebs." Cole said, sounding slightly worried for what appeared to him to be his fiancé but was, in actual fact, his fiancé's youngest sister.


	3. Don't Tell Piper

**Chapter Three: Don't Tell Piper**

Cole pulled Paris up and she looked down at what she suddenly realised was Phoebe's body.

"Oh crap." She mumbled to herself. "What the hell have I done? Piper is gonna be so mad." Unfortunately, she hadn't mumbled quietly enough.

"Phoebe? Have you gone crazy or something?" Cole joked, covering up his concern for his fiancé.

"I - I need to go upstairs! I need to talk to Paige and Phoebe - I mean Paris," Paris stammered, almost giving her stupid mistake away. It must have been the potion, she thought to herself.

Cole was left alone in the basement, confused at Phoebe's sudden change in behaviour.

~~PO4~~

"Guys!" Paris shouted. As she came up from the basement she could see her body and Paige on the ground. "Guys! Are you ok?" she continued, rushing over to help Paige up.

"Phoebe?" Paris' body asked.

"What?" Paige's body asked.

"Oh my God!" Paris' body said. "Paris? What have you done?"

"Me? I haven't done anything!" Paris in Phoebe's body insisted.

"What the hell has happened?" Paige's body asked.

After a lot of shouting at Paris' body from Paige's body and then a lot of shouting at the real Paris in Phoebe's body, the three youngest Charmed Ones were able to work out who was in whose body.

"So," the real Paris started. "I am Paris in Phoebe's body, Paige is in my body and Phoebe is in Paige's body?"

"We really need to fix this." Paige said, "I have a date in a few minutes with Mr Cowan's son and I really doubt he would want to go with what looks like my baby sister."

"Hey! I am not a baby." Paris insisted.

"Paris, be quiet, you've caused enough trouble already. And Paige, what do you mean, we? Paris was the one who did it, she should fix it." Phoebe demanded.

"But I don't know what I'm doing!" Paris yelled.

"OK, fine." Paige started. "I'll help you fix it Paris, and Phoebe, seeing as you're me for God knows how long, you're going to have to go on my date for me, as me."

"Fine." Phoebe agreed, not pleased with the fact that she would have to go on her sister's date. She kind of felt bad for Paris though, she had no idea what she was doing and her, Paige and Piper weren't helping at all.

"Please don't tell Piper! She'll kill me and hate me more than she already does!" Paris begged her sisters.

"Piper doesn't hate you, sweetie, she is just trying to help you learn." Phoebe assured her.

"But we won't tell her, don't worry. You're just going to have to be Phoebe for the next few hours. I hope you're good at acting." Paige agreed.

"Thanks guys, you're the best!" Paris said. Phoebe and Paige just looked at each other as if to say "how the hell are we going to fix this?"

Just then Cole came in from the basement.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything ladies?" he asked.

"No!" Phoebe in Paige's body assured him.

"Good. Phoebe, are you coming down to practice more with me?" He asked.

"Practice what?" Paris in Phoebe's body asked.

"Course she is." Phoebe in Paige's body said, shoving her body towards Cole.

"She's going now, aren't you Pheebs?" Paige in Paris' body asked.

~~PO4~~

After about 15 minutes of fighting with her brother-in-law-to-be, Paris was getting tired and fed up. She was surprisingly good at fighting but Cole didn't say anything because, of course, he thought she was Phoebe. For a second, Paris let her guard down and Cole knocked her to the floor.

"Ouch!" Paris cried. Cole helped back to her feet and told her to continue fighting.

"I can't," she explained, thinking of a reason to get out of fighting this ex-demon. "I twisted my ankle." was the best she could come up with.

"Phoebe, if you're fighting with a demon, he's not going to give you a break or stop fighting you if you say you have a twisted ankle." Cole explained.

"I don't care! I want a break!" Paris demanded, forgetting to act like Phoebe.

"Phoebe? What has gotten in to you? You sound exactly like your kid sister!" Cole exclaimed. Of course she did, that's exactly what had gotten into Phoebe.

"Oh shut up Cole, you're pushing Phoebe way too hard anyway!" Paris shouted. She ran up the stairs to the kitchen, not caring if Cole didn't see her limp.

Once again, Cole was left confused in the basement. Something was up with Phoebe and he was going to find out.


	4. Being Phoebe

**Chapter Four: Being Phoebe**

Paige was in the kitchen with Piper, who although getting increasingly annoyed at who she thought was Paris, was also impressed by her sudden knowledge of all things potion. Paige on the other hand, was subtly trying to work out what on Earth Paris had put in the potion so that she could reverse its effects.

Suddenly the door to the basement swung open and Paris appeared. "Hi," she said awkwardly. She hasn't realised Piper was in the kitchen with Paige.

"Hey Pheebs, I didn't realise you were finished with Cole," Piper said.

"Oh, um, yeah. We're having a break," Paris replied.

"That's great!" Paige said eagerly, "You can teach me instead of Piper,"

"I don't think that's such a good idea Paris," Paris replied uncertainly. Piper looked extremely angry.

"No, it's fine. If Paris would rather have you teach her then I'm fine with that," Piper said stiffly through a clenched jaw. She swiftly left and now it was Paris' turn to look angry.

"Thanks a lot Paige, it's not like Piper hates me enough already," she said.

"Well, we can't exactly fix this with her in the room can we? You were the one that didn't want to tell her," Paige reasoned.

"Fine but how are we going to fix it?" Paris asked worriedly.

"For starters, you need to tell me exactly what you put in the potion," Paige instructed.

"How am I supposed to remember that? I just dumped stuff in, I didn't know what I was doing," she replied.

"For goodness sakes Paris! How do you expect to learn when all you do is put random ingredients in a pot and hope for the best?" Paige yelled at her unexpectedly.

Paris looked at her, hurt. "I'm sorry! But making potions is so boring, I don't see why I can't learn how to orb or fight. Or use my power. Can you teach me how to use my power?" Paris asked, her emotions changing multiple times in one sentence.

Paige put her hand on her head and massaged her temple. "No Paris, I can't teach you how to use your power because I don't know how to use your power,"

"Fine, but can you stop with the serious face, I'll get wrinkles," Paris asked innocently.

Paige sighed. "You're fourteen Paris, you don't have wrinkles,"

"I will have if you keep making that face," she replied.

Cole came up from the basement. "Hello ladies, do you mind if I talk to you Phoebe?"

Paris, realising he was talking to her said; "Erm, sure,"

Before Cole could say anything, Phoebe in Paige's body came in through the kitchen door and, not realising that Cole was there said: "I am never going on a date for you again Paige. That was a disaster,"

Cole smiled, as he had started to work out what was going on. He decided to put his theory to the test and started walking towards Paris until he was almost touching her back. He put his arms around her arms and put his lips to her neck. "What are you doing?" Paris gasped, feeling uncomfortable and shrugging him off her.

"Would you rather I do it to Paige?" he asked seductively.

"Ye –" Paris started but before she could finish, Phoebe, who was in Paige's body, said "Eww, gross,"

Before Cole could do anything else to her, Paris rushed out of the kitchen and down to the basement.

"Maybe you should practice levitating!" Paige called after her, knowing already that Cole had worked out what had happened.

"So, I'm guessing Paris made some sort of potion or spell which switched all of your bodies?" he asked.

Paige and Phoebe nodded.

He pointed at Paige's body. "You're my fiancé and so you must be Paige," Cole said pointing at Paris' body. He smiled to himself as Paige and Phoebe both nodded again. "Well, I can try and help you make the potion again; it can't be that difficult,"

"I think I've worked out most of the ingredients she put in," Paige said in agreement.

"Let's do it then. And Cole, sweetie, don't tell Piper, she's already got enough on her plate and Paris really doesn't need to be yelled at again," Phoebe concluded.

"It's really creepy when Paige's body calls me sweetie…" Cole mumbled to himself.

"I heard that and she isn't Paige, she is Phoebe but she's borrowing my body," Paige insisted.

"We seriously need to fix this," Phoebe said.


	5. Piper Finds Out

**Chapter Five: Piper Finds Out**

After going for a walk to get away from her weirdly acting sisters, Piper decided to go back home and insist that Paris learn about potions from her, not Paige or Phoebe. But, when she got to the kitchen, there was no one in sight. What she didn't know was Phoebe and Paige had gone upstairs to the attic to check something in the Book and Paris was in the basement.

Piper, wondering where her sisters were, and remembering that Cole and Phoebe had been down in the basement earlier, decided that was her best bet. So she made her way down there.

When she opened the door she could see Phoebe trying desperately hard to levitate and kick a punch bag. "Phoebe? Why can't you levitate?" she asked, concerned.

Paris in Phoebe's body jumped at the sound of her voice and immediately started to think about how to explain this. "Piper, I didn't see you there. What's up?" she said as cheerfully as she could, she didn't want Piper to realise that she was not Phoebe.

"Nothing is _up_ I was just wondering where everyone was because none of you were in the kitchen. Have you seen Paris? And why can't you levitate?"

"Right, well, I haven't seen Paris, maybe she went out somewhere with Paige? Do you need her for something?" Paris answered vaguely, still avoiding Piper's question.

"What's wrong with your powers Phoebe? Why can't you levitate?" Piper insisted, growing suspicious of her sister's behaviour.

"I can levitate Piper, what are you talking about?" Paris said slowly, trying not to sound guilty.

All of a sudden Paris' body could be seen from the top of the stairs. "Paris? Phoebe and I have remade the potion so you can be you again!" she exclaimed without realising that Piper was in the basement as well.

"Paige!" Paris shouted, furious that her sister had been so careless.

"Does anyone want to explain to me what on Earth is going on?" Piper yelled, still not sure what she was witnessing.

"Paris can explain," Paige said quickly. Piper continued looking at her and then Paige realised that she was in Paris' body so Piper was expecting her to explain. "I'm not Paris, I'm Paige. That's Paris," she said, pointing at Phoebe's body.

"It was a mistake! I was just adding ingredients to the potion and it blew up and then this happened. I'm really sorry, Piper," Paris said, pleading with her to be nice to her.

Piper looked at her in disbelief. For starters, it was weird seeing Phoebe acting so strangely, the last time she looked so scared was when she had been caught shoplifting and taken home by the police. And that was when Grams was alive. Second, she didn't sound completely like Phoebe. Well, she did, obviously, but now that Piper knew she was actually Paris, she could kind of tell that it was Paris talking, not Phoebe. Basically, the whole thing left Piper very confused. The only thing that it explained was Phoebe not being able to levitate.

Piper noticed that Paris' body and Phoebe's body hadn't said a thing and realised they were expecting a reaction from her. She put her hand to her head in frustration. She had never signed up for this – she didn't want to have to look after and discipline her 14-year-old sister.

"Just… go upstairs, both of you… and fix this," Piper told them. Paris' body nodded and went back up to the kitchen.

Phoebe's body put her head down, not wanting to look at Piper and said: "I'm really sorry, Piper."

Piper looked at her and thought that Phoebe did not suit the scared looked. "Just go upstairs Ph – I mean Paris,"

Paris obeyed and made her way up to the kitchen to be greeted by Paige's body giving her a potion.

"Take this at the same time as us and hopefully we will all be returned to our rightful bodies," she said. Paris nodded in understanding and the three of them drank the potion. They all fell to the floor, unconscious.

After a couple of minutes, Piper went upstairs to see what was happening with her sisters. She saw them all on the floor, waking up. "Are you yourselves again?" she asked warily, she did not want to shout at the wrong sister.

They all nodded once they had realised they had been put back in the right places. For some reason, Piper noted, Paris did not look scared anymore. Maybe that was because she thought she had done all the shouting for the day.

"What on earth were you thinking Paris? What have I told you about messing with things you don't understand?" Piper yelled making Paris jump and Phoebe and Paige look on, surprised.

"I –" Paris started but Piper was having none of it.

"Do you think you're clever or something? Do you think it's funny to play around with things you don't know about? Because you aren't clever and it isn't funny. It's childish and you really need to buck up your ideas!" she continued yelling.

"Piper, it was an accident! I didn't know that was going to happen. I was just bored," Paris tried to explain.

"Of course you were bored and I know it was an accident but I _specifically_ told you not to touch anything. And what did you go and do? Swap bodies with Phoebe and Paige and waste valuable time and ingredients so they could fix your mess,"

"Technically, I didn't swap bodies with both of them; I put Paige in my body and went into Phoebe's. It's not the same thing," Paris said smartly. Piper was furious.

"Do you honestly think this is remotely funny? What if a demon had attacked? None of you know how to use each other's powers so you all would have been vulnerable and no one else is here so you all could have been killed. Is that what you want Paris?" she continued.

"Piper, calm down. It was a mistake." Paige tried to reason with her.

"Paige, you are not helping. We are meant to discipline her when she does something wrong. We can't just let her get away with things like this." Piper snapped at Paige.

"So now you can't even say my name? Do you really hate me that much Piper?" Paris asked her.

"Oh, for goodness sakes Paris, I don't hate you, I just don't understand why you act the way you do," Piper told her.

"Maybe it's because I live with my three stupid sisters who feel the need to tell me off for every single little thing I do wrong?" Paris yelled back

"Just go to your room Paris, I can't be bothered to deal with this right now," Piper sighed in exasperation.

"Whatever," Paris replied angrily. She still had a lot more to say to Piper but that could wait. She went to her bedroom without another word and her three sisters were left in the kitchen.

Just then Cole came in. "Hi, just wanted to let you know that I heard all of that, in fact, I think the whole street did but I didn't want to intrude so stayed out there." He said awkwardly. Paige raised her eyebrows at him in disbelief, Piper sighed heavily and left the room and Phoebe half-smiled at him.

Neither Paige nor Phoebe had been expecting such an outburst from Piper – it was like the past three months of anger had been bottled up inside her and she just exploded. They both wanted to see if Paris was okay but it was probably best not to go to her in case it made Piper even more angry. So instead, the three of them went into the living room where Piper had gone.


	6. Bugged Manor

**Chapter Six: Bugged Manor**

After Paris had gone upstairs, Phoebe and Paige sat on the couch and Cole looked at them awkwardly. "Well that was awkward," he said after a couple of minutes.

"You are unbelievable Cole; why can't you just stay out of everyone's business for once in your life?" Paige snapped at him.

"Calm down, Paige. Cole is a part of our family, our business is his," Phoebe said. Paige rolled her eyes and was about to say something else when the doorbell rang. Piper stood up to go and answer it and was surprised by who she saw.

"Leo? Why didn't you just orb?" Piper asked, confused. Leo didn't answer and instead pushed himself past Piper and hurriedly went into the living room.

"Something very bad has happened," Leo stated quickly.

"What are you talking about Leo?" Phoebe asked as Piper walked back into the room.

"Paige. This is very important. Whatever you do, do not orb in or out of this house," Leo said, ignoring Phoebe.

"Leo, stop it, you're scaring me," Piper said to her husband. "Why isn't Paige allowed to orb?"

"Yeah Leo, what's happened?" Paige asked, curious as to why her brother-in-law/whitelighter was acting so weird.

"The Elders believe that a demon, specifically the new Source, has bugged the Manor so that if either me or Paige or anyone else orbs in or out of it, they will be taken to the Underworld," Leo explained with a concerned look on his face.

"How can they even know that? Aren't those things undetectable?" Cole asked.

"Usually, yes. But the Elders have sensed it so just make sure you don't orb out Paige," Leo repeated.

"Okay… but can we get rid of it? Only I like being able to orb to work," Paige answered.


	7. The Hearing Thoughts Spell

**Chapter Seven: The Hearing Thoughts Spell**

Paris was pissed off. She didn't understand why Piper thought she could boss her around so much. It was annoying and ridiculous. So she was going to do something Piper had forbidden her to do, as she couldn't really get into any more trouble. Paris went into the Attic and started to flick through the Book of Shadows.

"The Hearing Thoughts spell…" Paris muttered to herself after a while. It seemed pretty simple – all she needed was one blue candle and the spell. She lit the candle and chant from the Book:

"As flame lights shadow  
And truth ends fear  
Open locked thoughts  
to my mind's willing ear  
May the smoke from  
this candle into  
everywhere creep  
Bringing innermost voices  
to my mind in speech"

Nothing was different. But Paris was sure it worked so she blew out the candle, put everything back where she had found it and then went downstairs to see what her sisters really thought of her. Getting downstairs, she saw that Leo had arrived. "Hi." She greeted softly.

Piper looked up at her. _What is she doing here? I told her to stay in her room._ Paris didn't really think what Piper thought was particularly bad so said: "Piper, I've decided I'm not going to let you teach my how to make potions anymore. It's boring and you're bossy and annoying."

This made Piper angry. _What the hell is her problem? Who does she think she is?_ But instead she said: "Suit yourself. But when we aren't around to make potions, you'll be sorry."

"No I won't be. I can teach myself." Paris argued.

 _She's just like Phoebe when she was her age. This is going to be a pain._ Paige thought. Paris stared at Paige, her eyes blinking back the tears. She was nothing more than a pain to her.

 _Poor Paris, why doesn't she understand that we're just trying to help her?_ That's what Phoebe was thinking. _I just wish I could get to know her more._ Okay, that was better, Paris thought. But still, why did Phoebe feel sorry for her? That was so stupid.

"Don't be ridiculous, Paris." Piper sighed. "You can't teach yourself." _God, this girl is really getting on my nerves._

 _This is going to end badly._ Leo thought. All of her sisters' words were bouncing around in her head. It was awful. They were all feeling sorry for her or thinking she was a waste of their time and wishing that she would just leave them alone. Paris was finding it hard to fight her tears and her anger. She didn't realise that _all_ her sisters had thought that about her. She thought it had just been Piper. She was wrong.

"Yes I can." Paris argued eventually. She was staring helplessly between her three sisters and wishing they would think about something other than her. "I'm going upstairs."

"No you aren't. This conversation is finished." Piper ordered.

"Yes it is, Piper. You aren't teaching me how to make potions anymore." Paris insisted. She went to turn around and storm out but then heard Cole thinking something.

 _I would do anything to just… throw an energy ball at that stupid bitch and then at Paige and get this over and done with. God, the Source never told me it was this difficult to control yourself when you're the Source but trying to be good._

"I thought you _were_ good?" Paris asked him with worry filling her mind. Cole wasn't good? He was The Source? "Why do you want to kill –"

Cole was pretending to look confused but internally, he was panicking. How the hell had she heard what he was thinking about? "What are you on about, Paris? Cole is good." Phoebe replied suspiciously. But she wasn't suspicious of her fiancé, no, she was suspicious of her sister.

"No he isn't." Paris informed her.

"Finally. Someone else who doesn't trust him." Paige breathed a sigh of relief. However, it was short-lived because Phoebe spat:

"What?"


	8. World War Three

**Chapter Eight: World War Three**

"I said: _finally_ , someone else who doesn't trust him." Paige repeated, staring at Phoebe.

"What the hell is your problem, Paige? Cole isn't evil!" Phoebe yelled.

"Oh, really? Even Paris, someone who hasn't known him that long, knows that something isn't right with him." Paige argued.

"Isn't _right with him?_ Paige –" Phoebe shouted.

"Paige is right… Cole thought something about being The Source." Paris interrupted. "That's like, the evilest of all evils, right?" her voice was innocent and naïve but this didn't stop Phoebe from losing her temper.

"Shut up, Paris! You don't even know him!" she yelled. Paris jumped slightly. Phoebe had never raised her voice so loud, especially not at her. "Cole isn't the new Source! We vanquished The Source! Cole is good!"

"It isn't my fault that I heard him thinking it! It was the spell." Paris argued quickly, without realising that Piper was still in the room.

"What spell?" Piper asked suspiciously. Paris stared at her feet and gulped. This was going much worse than she had expected. But Cole was evil, she couldn't let that slide. She needed Phoebe to believe her.

"The Hearing Thoughts Spell." Paris replied finally.

"Seriously? What part of _don't touch The Book_ don't you understand, Paris?" Piper yelled.

"At least I'm not evil! Or are you forgetting that Cole is The Source now?" Paris argued.

"How many times, Paris? He is _not_ the damn Source!" Phoebe yelled.

"Yes he is! I heard him think that he wanted to kill me and –" Paris started.

"He probably wanted to kill you because you're being a pain in the ass!" Phoebe interrupted.

"For goodness sakes, Phoebe! Are you seriously not going to believe her?" Paige butted in.

"No! No, I'm not going to believe her, Paige, because –"

"If you're blind enough not to see it, then you're just as evil as him!" Paige yelled. This made Paris angry. It reminded her of her mum.

"Is that what you think Paige? Is that what you're saying? That I'm evil too, because I didn't realise my mom was evil?" Paris asked angrily.

"Yes." Paige snapped. "That is _exactly_ what I'm saying."

"But I didn't even know magic existed!" Paris argued.

"That is such a crappy excuse, Paris!" Paige yelled.

"No it's not!"

"Of course it is. When Cole was evil, he didn't hurt any of us. Your mom killed Prue!" Phoebe added loudly.

"Which means that _you_ killed Prue. You killed our sister." Paige spat.

"Shut up!" Paris yelled. "I didn't kill her! And Cole is evil! He's The Source!"

"Stop changing the subject. You practically murdered our sister because you were too blind to realise that your _mother_ was an evil bitch!" Paige yelled back.

"I said _shut up_!" Paris ordered. Then she lunged at Paige and suddenly, the pair were engulfed in blue and white orbs.

"NO!" Piper and Leo shouted at the same time.

But it was too late. They were already gone.


	9. The Power of ?

**Chapter Nine: The Power of '?'**

Piper and Phoebe stared at each other guiltily. Despite the argument that had just occurred between the sisters, they had now potentially lost two of them to some sort of portal to a Very Evil Demon. Leo and Cole were also there, although Leo had just been called Up by the Elders so needed to leave. "We'll call you if we find anything." Piper said as he left.

"I should probably get going as well." Cole said. Phoebe nodded but Piper didn't register that he was speaking. She was already on her way up to the Attic. Phoebe rushed after her.

"Okay, here's the spell. We say it, they come here. Right?" Piper said in a high-pitched voice.

"Yeah." Phoebe agreed weakly. They started to chant:

"Power of the sisters' rise

Course unseen across the skies

Come to us who call you near

Come to us and settle here.

Blood to blood, I summon thee

Blood to blood, return to me."

Nothing happened. Not even a gust of wind. "This is all my fault; I just had to overreact, didn't I?" Phoebe asked helplessly. She was close to tears but refusing to cry. They would find Paris and Paige. They had to.

"No, honey, it's not your fault. Paige shouldn't have orbed out. She knew that The Manor was bugged, I don't even know why she did." Piper assured her softly. Then all of a sudden, there was a gust of wind and bright lights swirled in front of the two Halliwells. Once the lights were gone, Piper and Phoebe were shocked to see who they did.

"Prue?" Phoebe whispered.

Prue nodded and smiled and then Piper and Phoebe both started to cry. They rushed over to their older sister and hugged her tightly; all three of them sobbing. "But how? How are you here?" Piper asked.

"I came here to help you." Prue explained.

"Find Paris and Paige?" Piper asked softly.

"Yeah… but you won't be able to because none of you have your powers anymore." Prue said sadly.

"What? Why?" Phoebe asked.

"Remember that time, about a year ago, when the four of us had an argument? And the triquetra broke? It happened again." Prue explained. With each word, Piper and Phoebe felt the hope draining from their bodies.

Piper closed The Book and saw that it was true. The triquetra, the symbol of the Power of Four, was broken into four small pieces.

"But that's impossible…" Piper tried. "A demon did it last time."

"No, a demon gave us the anger to do it but you guys already had all the anger you needed, so just started arguing and then…" Prue explained.

"The Power of Four fell apart?" Phoebe finished. Prue nodded.

"So what are we going to do?" Piper asked frantically.

"I don't know yet…" Prue replied.

"What do you mean you don't know? Paris is a kid! Paige and her are stranded somewhere in the Underworld with no powers!" Piper asked, her panic evident in her voice.

"Come on, Piper. Stop panicking." Prue tried.

"Stop panicking? Are you kidding me? I'll stop panicking when we get our two little sisters away from demons that will easily kill them!" Piper yelled.

"Piper, calm down." Phoebe said softly.

"They're vulnerable and powerless. Even if the both of them had their powers, they wouldn't be able to fight off an uber powerful demon." Piper argued.

"We'll just have to think of a way to get your powers back and then you can find them and help them." Prue decided. Phoebe nodded in agreement and Piper put her head in her hands. This was all her fault.


	10. The New Source

**Chapter Ten: The New Source**

Paige and Paris screamed and gasped in pain as they landed painfully on sharp rocks. They stared at each other and saw that the other had cuts and bruises from the fall. Paige saw that Paris had a black eye and a few cuts on her cheeks and forehead. Her lip was bleeding as well. "Where are we?" Paris mumbled in fear.

It was dark and the anger that she had felt towards Paige had quickly evaporated and been replaced by pure terror. "The Underworld. The Manor was bugged to send us to the lair of The Source if we orbed." Paige replied bluntly.

"So why did you orb then?" Paris asked.

"I didn't… you must have…" she replied.

"Oh…" Paris said softly. "Sorry. I didn't even realise I knew how to." Before Paige could reply, The Seer came into view.

"Well, well, well, _two_ Charmed Ones, The Source will be pleased." She said with an evil grin. She clicked her fingers and suddenly the two youngest Halliwells were in a metal cage with their wrists chained to it. Panicking, Paris started to move around frantically.

"Why are you doing this to us?" she asked, trying to mask her fear. Paige was still but she was glaring at The Seer.

"That, is none of your concern." Cole's voice could be heard before he could be seen.

"Cole." Paige spat. Paris continued to try and escape from the metal chains; they were already digging into her flesh and cutting her.

"Yes. Paris was correct." Cole smirked. "Your other sister is back, by the way. Prudence. I didn't stick around to say hi though."

"You're lying." Paige insisted. Cole chuckled.

"Now, why would I do that?" he asked. "You know, Paige, I was going to kill you, but what would be the fun in that? You made me suffer when you got Phoebe to hate me, so I'm going to make you suffer."

The Seer clicked her fingers again and Paris disappeared from inside the cage. She reappeared in Cole's arms. He was holding a knife to her throat so she wouldn't move. "Let go." Paris begged; her voice breaking from the terror.

"Paris, Paris." Cole started slowly. "I was beginning to like you but then you had to blurt all that stuff out about me being The Source. So I'm not going to regret this." His mouth was curved into a grin.

"Don't touch her." Paige warned angrily. She wriggled her arms around to try and get out of the chains.

"What are you going to do about it?" Cole chuckled. Then he moved the knife in front of Paris' stomach and plunged it deep into her flesh.

"NO!" Paige screamed as Paris gasped in shock and pain. Her knees weakened and she fell against Cole slightly; her abdomen already bleeding heavily. A red stain was forming on her white t-shirt.

"Don't die too quickly…" Cole smirked. He waved his hand over Paris' wound to make her die slower and then The Seer clicked her fingers again so Paris was back in the cage; her wrists chained up again. "I'd love to stick around, but my fiancé is waiting for me."

Then he flamed out.


	11. Talking Things Through

**Chapter Eleven: Talking Things Through**

"No! No, Paris." Paige yelled frantically. She tried her hardest to get the chains away from her but couldn't. Then she closed her eyes and tried to orb out but nothing happened.

"The cage is magic proof." The Seer explained. She sounded amused.

"It isn't." Paris muttered. "Or, it might be. But before we got in the cage, I couldn't hear your thoughts anymore." She tried to sit up slightly and winced in pain.

"Paris, don't move. And… that means we don't have any powers anymore." Paige replied.

"How do you know that?" Paris asked quietly. She was quickly losing blood and getting paler every second.

"About a year ago, a demon made the four of us extremely angry. We had an argument – slightly smaller than the one we all just had now – and the triquetra on The Book broke. The Power of Four fell apart and we lost our powers. Funny thing is, Cole was behind that, as well." Paige explained.

"I was looking forward to meeting Prue…" Paris mumbled with sadness.

"But she's alive." Paige said.

"Exactly." Paris replied. Paige shook her head; tears falling from her eyes.

"No, no Paris, you're not going to die. Leo will get here in time to heal you." She insisted. Paris smiled slightly.

"I'm sorry I wasn't the best sister ever, it's all kinda new to me…" she said.

"No. _I'm_ sorry I was so hard on you. And I know Piper and Phoebe are as well. It's just… we had to learn the hard way, and even then, it wasn't enough. We didn't want to lose you like we lost Prue." Paige sniffed.

"But I guess that failed because I am…" Paris replied. "I'm sorry I brought you here, Paige, but at least I orbed one last time."

"You are _not_ going to die, Paris. You're fourteen-years-old, you're too young to die." Paige insisted through her sobs.

Paris closed her eyes and sighed softly. "You're never too young to die, Paige." She said finally. She opened her eyes again and saw that Paige was crying heavily.

"Please." Paige begged. "Just try, Paris. I love you, I don't want to lose you."

"I love you too, Paige, even if you did want to kill me a few months ago." Paris smiled. Paige returned the smile and then they both felt warmth inside them. "Did you feel that?" Paris muttered.

"Yeah… yeah, I did. I think we should try something now." Paige replied. She closed her eyes and orbed the chains away from her. "You know the Lost Sister Spell?" she asked Paris. Paris nodded slightly. Paige took her hand through the chains and smiled. "Let's say it."

They began to chant:

"Power of the sisters' rise

Course unseen across the skies

Come to us who call you near

Come to us and settle here.

Blood to blood, I summon thee

Blood to blood, return to me."


	12. The Power of Four Once More

**Chapter Twelve: The Power of Four Once More**

Piper, Phoebe and Prue appeared in front of the cage in surprise. "Oh my God!" Phoebe exclaimed, when she noticed Paris was bleeding.

"I'm not a witch anymore, but I'm pretty sure you guys need to make up to get your powers back." Prue said. They all nodded.

"I'm really sorry I overreacted." Phoebe started. Paris didn't reply to that. Cole was evil. He was The Source. But now was not the best time to bring it up again. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. Either of you. And I shouldn't have said you killed Prue, Paris."

"It's fine, Pheebs. I'm sorry too." Paige said.

"It's okay." Paris replied. But she didn't apologise for telling her that Cole was evil. "Piper, I'm sorry I cast a spell when you specifically told me not to and I'm sorry I wasted time and ingredients when I made that potion." She apologised.

"It's alright, sweetie. It's fine. You didn't do anything wrong." Piper smiled.

The four of them all glowed a light orange colour and felt warmth flood through them; similar to what Paige and Paris had felt, but stronger. Piper flicked her wrists and the cage they were in exploded.

Phoebe and Piper rushed up to their sisters and hugged Paige tightly. Prue walked over and hugged Paige as well.

"Guys…" Paris whispered. They didn't hear her. "I don't… I feel… I don't feel so… good." she mumbled. Then her eyes closed and they seemed to notice.

"No! Paris." Paige yelled.

"Paige, orb!" Piper ordered. Paige came to her senses and orbed herself and her sisters back to the Manor. "LEO!" Piper called frantically. Leo orbed down and went over to Paris; bending over her body. He started to try and heal her but nothing was happening. "What's wrong? Why isn't it working?" Piper asked.

"I can't…" Leo started. He couldn't heal the dead.

"Don't you dare say that, Leo! Don't you dare!" Phoebe yelled. Paige joined Leo and held his hand.

"She is not dying. You hear me, Paris? Don't you dare die on us!" Paige insisted through her tears. She cried in relief when a glow appeared under her and Leo's joint hands. A few minutes later, Paris opened her eyes slowly. "Oh, thank God!" Paige sighed. She threw her arms around her sister and tried to stop crying.

"Paige –" Paris gasped. "I can't breathe."

"Sorry. Sorry." Paige muttered. She let go of Paris and smiled happily. "That was too close, missy. _Never_ do that again, okay?" she said sternly. Paris nodded and stood up.

"Cute." Prue said sarcastically.

Then Piper, Phoebe and Paige seemed to remember that their older sister was back from the dead so all hugged her with happiness. They were all crying so didn't notice when Paris walked away from them; upstairs, into her room. Away from her sisters. Away from where she didn't belong. And never would.


	13. Big Sister Advice

**Chapter Thirteen: Big Sister Advice**

"Guys… I'm sorry. I have to leave. I was only sent down here to help you get your powers back." Prue said after a while. Piper, Phoebe and Paige said goodbye to their sister and Prue went to leave. However, she noticed Paris was gone. "Where's Paris?"

"She's probably in her room. She spends every spare second in there." Piper replied. Prue nodded and started to walk upstairs. She got to her old bedroom and knocked on the door. Paris didn't answer but Prue opened it anyway. She could see that Paris was practicing telekinesis by moving all her books around in the air.

"You're really getting the hang of that…" Prue smiled. The books dropped to the floor as Paris looked up at Prue in surprise.

"I should be practicing potions; otherwise Piper will get mad at me again." She said finally.

"Piper's just trying to protect you, Paris. She loves you." Prue assured her. Paris shrugged and started to telekinetically move her books around the room again.

"She has a funny way of showing it." Paris muttered. For a while, the two Halliwells sat in the bedroom – Paris on the floor and Prue on the bed – as Paris practiced telekinetically moving everything around and trying hard to learn to control the power the sisters shared. "I'm sorry." Paris mumbled after about half an hour.

"If you're apologising for Shax killing me, then don't. Because that wasn't your fault." Prue replied. Paris' eyes filled with tears and she let the books fall to the floor. She sniffed and Prue slid down to sit next to her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I miss her," Paris sobbed in reply. "I know I shouldn't because she's a demon and she killed you but I miss her so much!"

"It's fine to miss her, sweetie. She was your mom. She loved you, you know. She loved you a lot." Prue tried.

"How can you say that when she killed you in cold blood! She didn't care about you!" Paris insisted. Prue tried to wrap her arms around Paris to hug her but Paris moved out of the way. "Stop it. I need to tell you something, Prue."

"I'm listening." Prue replied softly.

Paris sniffed and nodded. "When I orbed with Paige, we went to the Underworld and… Cole was there. He's the new Source. I want to tell Phoebe but I don't think I can – she got really angry when I said something about Cole before. But what if he tries to kill her? Or us?" she rambled.

"Paige knows as well, doesn't she?" Prue asked. Paris nodded and looked up her sister. "Then you should talk to her. Maybe tell Phoebe together. If Cole is evil again, Phoebe has a right to know. And, yes, she will probably be angry with you. She might even refuse to talk to you for a while, but in the end, you'd rather have that than one of you dying. As much as I'd love the company, I don't want any of you joining me." Prue suggested.

Paris smiled half-heartedly and nodded again. "Thanks…"

"I have to go back now." Prue said sadly.

"It was nice meeting you, Prue. Piper, Phoebe and Paige always talk about you." Paris replied. They both stood up and Prue hugged her tightly; fighting her tears.

"If you ever need anything, there's a great spell in The Book that will bring me here." Prue explained. "You'll know which one it is when you see it. Just make sure our sisters aren't around when you cast it: they aren't ready just yet."

"Thanks Prue."

Prue smiled and went to leave Paris' bedroom. As she got to the doorway, she turned to Paris and said: "Oh, and Paris, the answer was D) freeze dry them." Paris smiled and then Prue winked at her and faded out.


	14. Going At It Alone

**Chapter Fourteen: Going at it Alone**

The next morning, as Paige was walking down the stairs to get to the kitchen, Paris stood in front of her. "We have to tell Phoebe about Cole," Paris said quickly, before Paige could tell her to move out of the way.

Paige sighed and put her hand on Paris' shoulder. "We can't, Paris," she replied.

"What? But he's _evil_ , Paige! He's the Source! What if he tries to kill Phoebe? What if he tries to kill _us_?" Paris asked in confusion.

"Phoebe would never forgive us if we started accusing Cole of being the Source again. Do you not remember what happened yesterday? You almost died!" Paige replied. Paris shook her head.

"Wouldn't you rather she got angry than got killed by her evil fiancé?" Paris asked desperately.

"Paris," Paige started quietly. "If we try and tell Phoebe what we saw – that Cole tried to kill you – then we'll all just start arguing again and we might lose our powers. Do you want that to happen?" she asked.

"If it means we can eventually vanquish Cole, then _yes_ ," Paris insisted.

Paige shook her head and walked past Paris on the stairs. "I'm sorry, Paris, but I can't tell her until I know we can prove it,"

"We _can_. We can cast the Hearing Thoughts Spell and _hear him_ thinking about how he's the Source. Like I did!" Paris tried. Paige walked down another step. "Paige, come _on_. This is for the greater good! Isn't that more important than Phoebe's feelings?"

"It's not just Phoebe's feelings. If we accuse Cole of being The Source, we could break the Power of Four again," Paige replied.

"But Prue said –" Paris started.

"Prue isn't here, Paris. Prue's dead," Paige cut in before Paris could finish her sentence. Paris stared at her sister in disbelief.

"I'll tell Phoebe myself then," she muttered; turning on her heel to rush up to Phoebe's room.

"Paris, _no_ ," Paige ordered. "Help me prove that Cole's evil and we can tell her together, okay?" she suggested. Paris thought about it for a few seconds, and then nodded. Paige breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good. Meet me in the attic after breakfast and we'll think of a way to get that bastard to show his true colours," Paris smiled and nodded. Then she ran up to the attic to start looking through the Book.

After a while, Paris got bored of looking, and started writing her own spell. A powerful spell that she could use to vanquish Cole herself. She finally came up with something, and then made up a spell to summon Cole.

He appeared in a whirl of white lights; looking very confused. And then, without saying anything, Paris started to chant her spell.

 _"_ _Prudence, Penelope, Patricia  
Astrid, Helena, Laura and Grace  
Halliwell witches stand strong beside me  
Vanquish this evil from time and space."_

There was a massive explosion, and then, Paris fell to the floor. She was unconscious. Cole wasn't vanquished. The spell she had made up was too powerful to say just by herself.

Cole chuckled to himself. "Stupid girl," he muttered with a smile. He swept his hand over Paris' body and she disappeared.


	15. Telling Phoebe

**Chapter Fifteen: Telling Phoebe**

"Have you two seen Paris anywhere?" Paige asked Phoebe and Piper. Paige had just gone up to the attic to find it empty, and wondered where Paris had gone. Piper and Phoebe shook their heads and Cole walked in.

"She can't have gone far, Paige. She's probably in her room," Phoebe suggested. Piper nodded in agreement.

"Who are we talking about?" Cole asked; walking over to Phoebe and kissing her.

"Paris. Paige can't find her," Piper explained briefly.

"She's probably gone for a walk or something so she can avoid her potions test," Cole proposed with an innocent shrug.

"Oh, yeah, probably," Piper agreed. Phoebe nodded and then her and Piper left the room. But Paige knew something was up, so looked at Cole suspiciously.

"What did you do to her?" she asked him angrily.

"Me?" Cole asked; biting back a smile. "Nothing," he lied. Paige knew he was lying. It was so obvious. So she stepped towards him, but he put his hand around her throat and pushed her against the wall; strangling her.

"Get," Paige gasped. "Off," she couldn't breathe. She was trying to fight against him but couldn't.

"Tell Phoebe or Piper _anything_ , and I'll kill Paris before you even _begin_ to start looking for her," Cole threatened; getting very close to her face and whispering harshly so Piper and Phoebe wouldn't hear him. Paige hit out weakly but he didn't let go. So she nodded and he flamed out before she could say anything.

Piper and Phoebe came back into the room. "Paris isn't in her room," Phoebe said.

"How long until we start freaking out?" Piper asked; trying to make light of the situation.

Paige looked at them both and held her neck softly. She had to tell them. They could help her find Paris. "Cole," Paige muttered.

"What?" Phoebe asked angrily.

"Phoebe, hear me out, okay?" Paige said. Phoebe nodded reluctantly. "Cole was the demon we were taken to when we orbed yesterday, and Cole was the one who stabbed Paris. This morning she wanted us to tell you together that Cole really is the Source. But I said no. Because I wanted more proof so we wouldn't break the Power of Four again. I told her to meet me in the attic, but she must have tried something to vanquish Cole, or done _something_ , because he has her,"

"How do you know that? Did he tell you?" Piper asked.

"He didn't have to. I asked him what he'd done with her and he started to strangle me. He said that he would kill her…" Paige explained.

Phoebe was silent for a few minutes, and Piper and Paige watched her warily. "We need to get her back," she whispered eventually. Paige breathed a visible sigh of relief, and Piper nodded.

But then Paige clutched her head, and let out a pain-filled scream. "Paige? What's the matter?" Piper asked with concern. Paige didn't answer. She just removed her hand from her head. Her hand was covered in blood. And so was her head. "Oh my God…" Piper muttered.


	16. Sisters Bound

**Chapter Sixteen: Sisters Bound**

"You just had to try and vanquish me, didn't you?" Cole bellowed at Paris, who was cowering in the corner of the cave. Paris stared up at him with fear in her eyes and tried to ignore the pain invading her body. Cole had already broken a couple of her fingers, and her nose and a rib.

"My sisters will find you, you know," Paris muttered. "And then you'll be sorry,"

Cole chuckled and threw a low-level energy ball at her shaking body. Paris screamed in pain, and closed her eyes. "Pathetic," he snarled. "You're pathetic,"

"Please," Paris begged weakly as Cole threw another energy ball at her.

~~PO4~~

Meanwhile, Piper and Phoebe were freaking out because Paige was in a lot of pain – she was being continually injured by some invisible force. Paige screamed again and jolted up in agony. "Leo!" Piper called frantically.

"Stop it!" Paige screamed desperately. Her nose started pouring out blood. "Make it stop!"

"Come on, Leo! Where are you?" Phoebe called to the ceiling. Leo finally orbed down.

~~PO4~~

"Let's give Paige a little message… shall we?" Cole asked Paris.

"What are you talking about?" she asked weakly. She was lying on the dirty ground of the cave, and still bleeding and in pain.

"Well, I warned her not to tell your sisters that I took you, but she did anyway. So every time I hurt you, she's getting hurt too. Except no one can see how," Cole explained with a triumphant smirk.

Paris' eyes filled with tears and she sat herself up and leant against the cave wall. Weakly, she moved her arm to try and telekinetically throw Cole away from her but he hardly flinched. Cole chuckled and grabbed Paris' leg; dragging her so she was lying on the ground in front of him.

"Now… what should we say?" he asked himself.

Then he lifted Paris' top up to expose her abdomen and summoned a knife to his hand. Cole's hand glided the knife swiftly over Paris' pale flesh; breaking the skin as she screamed and squirmed in pain.

~~PO4~~

"Oh God…" Piper muttered; motioning at Paige's stomach. Phoebe gasped at the blood as Paige continued to scream hoarsely. Finally, Paige stopped screaming, and Phoebe lifted up her shirt.

In bold letters – written in blood – were the words: I WARNED YOU

"I warned you… what does that mean?" Phoebe asked Piper. Piper shrugged and Paige started to cry. "Paige, do you know what this means?"

"Did you piss off a demon or something?" Piper tried to joke.

"Cole. He warned me not to tell you that he took Paris but I thought… I knew I couldn't do it alone…" Paige managed to explain. "He's gonna kill her!"

"It's okay. It's – it'll be okay, Paigey. We'll find her. We'll find them both and save Paris," Phoebe tried. Paige shook her head and Piper brushed some hair out of Paige's eyes.

"Listen here, Missy Paige – do you trust us?" Piper asked sternly. Paige looked up at her and let out a sob. "Do you?" she asked. Paige nodded weakly. "Then believe me when I say that Phoebe and I are going to save Paris, and save you and stop that evil bastard from hurting either of you again,"

"Piper –" Paige mumbled faintly.

"No," Piper interrupted. "Hold on, Paige. Leo, try and heal her," she instructed. Leo nodded and kneeled in front of Paige.

His hands glowed but the blood on Paige didn't disappear. "Why isn't it working?" Phoebe asked worriedly. Leo shook his head, and Paige's eyes closed. "Leo, why can't you heal her?"

"It must be Cole. He must have put some sort of binding spell on Paris and Paige. Cole is hurting Paris, but Paige is getting the injuries too. I'll only be able to heal Paige if I can get to Paris and heal her," Leo explained softly. Piper and Phoebe clung to each other's arms.

"But we need Paige to get to Paris!" Piper snapped urgently.

"It's like when I was connected to the man in the ghost town…" Phoebe muttered; more to herself.

"Then we're going to have to find Paris without Paige's help," Piper said confidently. "Leo, stay in here with Paige – me and Phoebe will go up to the attic and think of something to get to Paris, or get her to us," she decided.

"They'll be okay, Piper," Leo tried.

"Love spell," Paige muttered weakly. Piper and Phoebe looked at her. "Say the… love spell. To get to Cole,"

"Paige!" Phoebe smiled. "That's brilliant!"

"But do you still love him?" Piper asked with concern. When Phoebe didn't answer, Piper knew why. "You do, don't you? Even though he's killing two of our sisters,"

"I can't help how I feel Piper. At least this way, I can get to him and Paris," Phoebe replied defensively. Then her and Piper went to the attic and made a circle of candles. Phoebe began to chant.

 _"_ _Whither my love  
Wherever you be.  
Through time  
And space  
Take my heart  
Nearer to thee."_

~~PO4~~

Phoebe appeared in the Underworld, and her blood ran cold when she saw Paris' unconscious and bleeding body. "Paris," she whispered desperately. She immediately went to run over to her but Cole stepped in front of her.

"I wouldn't, if I were you," he said softly. He had his hands on Phoebe's shoulders, and she shrugged him off.

"Cole, let her go," she begged.

"But she tried to vanquish me, Phoebe…" Cole said with mock sadness.

"You're evil," Phoebe spat.

"I'm more than evil. I'm the Source. And I want you to be my Queen," Cole replied; looking into her eyes.

"What? No way!" Phoebe argued.

"Come on, Pheebs," Cole begged. "You don't need you your sisters. Look at her – she's pathetic," he swept his hand over Paris' body and she opened her eyes.

"Phoebe…" Paris mumbled weakly; a sparkle of hope appearing in her eyes.

"Paris, you're going to be fine. It's okay, sweetie," Phoebe tried. She went to go over to her sister – to comfort her – but Cole stopped her again.

"Oh, don't lie to the poor girl," Cole chuckled. He leant in front of Phoebe and put his hand on Paris' neck. Then he started to strangle her.

"Let go of her!" Phoebe shouted; trying to pull him away.

Paris moved weakly and kicked out. But she was quickly losing energy. And oxygen. "Ahh, almost," Cole smirked as Phoebe attempted to fight him.

"Stop it Cole!" she yelled. And he did. But not before Paris' eyes rolled backwards and then closed. Phoebe screamed. "NO!" she yelled. Cole stepped backwards and watched as Phoebe checked for Paris' non-existent pulse. "Come on, Paris. Come _on_ ," Phoebe begged.

~~PO4~~

"Leo! Heal her!" Piper ordered. Paige was gasping, choking for breath, and clutching at her neck. "LEO!"

"I _can't_ , Piper,"

"Then orb to Phoebe and save Paris. He's killing them!" Piper said desperately. She grabbed Paige's hand and took it away from her neck. Purple bruises were forming. "Paige, come _on_ , honey," she begged.

Paige looked up at Piper with desperate tears in her eyes and then closed them. Piper shook her shoulders. "No," she whispered. "No, Paige. _No_ ,"


	17. Losing Hope

**Chapter Seventeen: Losing Hope**

 _"_ _Power of the sisters rise  
Course unseen across the skies  
Come to us, who call you near  
Come to us and settle here,"_

Phoebe chanted the spell and a crying Piper, and Paige's body were summoned to her. "It's like a family reunion," Cole said with a menacing grin.

"You!" Piper spat angrily. She exploded him, and kept doing it until Cole decided to flame out. Then Piper noticed Paris, and ran over to her. "Paris, Paris. You're okay, you're going to be okay," she said; trying to keep her tears in.

"Leo," Phoebe said weakly. She was staring at Paige, and Paris – staring at Piper almost crying – and she felt so… weak. Leo orbed and them orbed all four sisters home. "Heal Paris," Phoebe ordered. He tried to. But nothing was happening.

"Leo," Piper cried hopelessly. "Why can't you heal them? Why is nothing happening?"

"I can't… I can't heal the dead," Leo explained sadly. He put his hands down in defeat and watched as Piper and Phoebe crumpled to the floor in sobbing heaps. They had lost Paige and Paris. Just like they had lost Prue.

Piper cradled Paris' body, while Phoebe held Paige and they both sobbed. "I'm sorry," Piper choked. "I'm so sorry, Paris," she let out a painful sob and rocked Paris' lifeless body in her arms. "I love you. I know I wasn't the best sister, I know I was hard on you, but I love you,"

"Piper," Phoebe croaked after a while. Piper looked up at her sister. "I think we should summon Prue,"

"Why?" Piper whispered.

"Because they –" Phoebe's words failed her. "Paris and Paige… she," Phoebe swallowed. "I just want her to hug me and tell us that we can do something to save them,"

Piper nodded briefly, and the three of them all went upstairs. Phoebe chanted the spell, and Grams appeared. "Grams, where's Prue?" Piper asked.

"You aren't ready to see her yet, Piper. I thought she explained this all to you?" Grams asked carefully.

"You've _got to be kidding me_!" Piper exclaimed. "Paige and Paris are _dead_ , Grams. We lost them like we lost Prue and now we can't see our sister?"

"Piper, I'm sorry," Grams attempted.

"What are we supposed to _do_ , Grams? How are we meant to keep going?" Phoebe asked weakly.

"Darling, they aren't in the afterlife," Grams said.

"What?" Piper snapped.

"Paris and Paige – they aren't with us in the afterlife," Grams repeated. Piper and Phoebe looked at her with confused expressions. "They haven't moved on yet. It isn't their time to go,"

Phoebe sniffed. "What does that mean?" she asked softly.

"It means you can still save them," Leo replied.


	18. A Deal

**Chapter Eighteen: A Deal**

"So… we'll be able to save them?" Piper asked slowly after a few minutes. "Even though Leo couldn't heal them?"

"Yes," Grams assured her.

"But _how_? If Leo couldn't save them, how can we?" Phoebe asked desperately.

"Darling, honestly, we don't always have to rely on Whitelighters to heal us. Witches are perfectly capable of doing it too," Grams sighed.

"Leo, can you go down and orb Paige and Paris up here? We should keep them with us," Piper asked. Leo nodded and orbed downstairs. A couple of minutes later, he orbed back up. Without Paris and Paige. "Where are our sisters, Leo?"

"They're gone. Their bodies are… they aren't… someone took them," Leo replied.

"Cole," Phoebe sighed. Piper cursed under her breath.

"It'll be fine. We can get them back," Grams tried.

"Their bodies," Piper snapped. "We can get their bodies back," a few minutes later, they were all losing hope. Phoebe was trying to scry, and Piper was repeating the Lost Sister Spell over and over again but to no avail. Because Paris and Paige weren't alive, it was impossible to find them.

~~PO4~~

Cole flamed into the attic. He had Paige's dead body in her arms. "Let her _go_ ," Piper spat angrily.

"Have it your way," Cole smirked. And then he dropped her like a dead weight and Piper gasped; throwing her arms out to freeze her. It didn't work. "I can bring her back to life for you," he offered calmly.

"What are you waiting for then?" Piper snapped.

Cole chuckled. "Now, Piper, do you really think I would agree to do something nice for you without there being a catch?" he asked with a smug look on his face.

"What do you want, Cole?" Phoebe asked weakly.

"It's more to do with what _you_ want," Cole started. "If you want me to bring Paige here back to life, that's fine – I can do that. But it means you won't get Paris back. Dead or alive. I _may_ bring her back to life, just so I can have a queen, seeing as you disagreed Phoebe, but she's annoying so I might just… _dispose_ … or her body, shall we say?" Cole finished.

"You're a bastard, Cole Turner," Grams spat.

"Why thank you, Penny. That means a lot," Cole chuckled. He kicked Paige's body. "It's your choice. Either you have neither of them, or you only get Paige back," he added simply. "I'll give you 24 hours to decide," and with that, he flamed out; leaving Paige with them.


	19. Hopeless

**Chapter Nineteen: Hopeless**

It had been an hour filled with silence. While Phoebe hopelessly scryed for any sign of either Paris or Cole, Piper had been flicking desperately through the Book of Shadows. They were quickly losing all hope, and both Piper and Phoebe didn't know what to do anymore.

Neither of them wanted to lose two of their sisters. They didn't want to lose Paige _or_ Paris. They both felt guilty.

Phoebe felt guilty because she had been the one to get angry and not believe Paris when she told her Cole had become the Source. And Piper felt guilty because she knew she hadn't been the nicest sister to Paris. Obviously, she had just wanted to prepare her for the worst, _but_ Piper thought bitterly, _even that didn't do anything_.

Because Paris was dead. They didn't even know where her body was. They were screwed.

"Guys… you need to decide what to do," Leo tried. He was being wary.

"What we need to do is keep looking," Phoebe snapped.

"For what?" Leo asked.

"A way to get them both back alive and vanquish Cole at the same time," Phoebe replied impatiently.

"Well, we can't get them back without vanquishing Cole and we can't vanquish Cole without getting them back for the Power of _Four_!" Piper said angrily.

"Do you want my advice?" Grams asked.

"I don't know, Grams," Piper sighed. "But I'm sure you're going to give it to us anyway," Grams rolled her eyes.

"Without both Paris and Paige, the two of you are mostly powerless," Grams started.

"Thanks for reminding us of the hopelessness of the situation, Grams," Phoebe sighed as she continued to scry.

"But you're forgetting that Cole gave you a choice. With Paige, you'll be able to reconstitute the Power of Three, like you did before you met Paris," Grams finished. Piper slammed the Book shut.

"What, are you saying there's another Paris out there that we've never met? Maybe one raised by Barbas?" Piper snapped.

"No. I'm saying that by taking Cole up on his offer, and getting Paige back, you can become the Power of Three again," Grams replied calmly.

"We can't do that. We can't lose Paris," Phoebe insisted.

"We already have…" Piper whispered despondently.

"No matter what the two of you choose, Paris is gone," Leo started to explain. "All you have to decide is whether or not you want Paige alive,"

"Leo, if it was that simple, we would have chosen already," Piper sighed.

"We have…" Phoebe started, glancing at her watch. "23 hours left to think of a way to outsmart Cole or find Paris' body and a way to heal both of them," she said glumly.


	20. Cole Returns

**Chapter Twenty: Cole Returns**

Three hours later, and Piper, Phoebe, Leo and Grams still hadn't found Paris or Cole or thought of a way to bring Paris and Paige back to life and vanquish Cole. "Leo, come _on_ , are you _sure_ you can't sense her?" Piper asked desperately.

"It's no use, Piper. I told you already: Paris isn't my charge, but even if she was, I can't sense my charges when they're technically not alive," Leo sighed patiently.

"Okay, but what about the Elders? Surely _they_ can sense her?" Phoebe asked.

Grams scoffed. "Even if they could, they wouldn't. Useless men, they are," she told her granddaughters. Leo awkwardly smiled at the woman, and shrugged his shoulders at Phoebe. "Face it, sweetie. You're not getting any help from them,"

"The Lost and Found spell!" Piper said suddenly; putting her finger up triumphantly.

"Piper, that's brilliant," Phoebe agreed with a smile. She started flicking through the Book for the spell, but Grams stopped her.

"If I remember correctly, the last time you cast that spell, you never actually found what you were looking for?" she asked; raising her eyebrows.

"That's because I didn't _realise_ what I was looking for," Phoebe sighed.

"No, Grams is right. All we found were hundreds of lost socks and your brown hair," Piper said.

"And Rasputin," Phoebe added. Piper smiled softly, and looked over at Paige's body, which Leo had orbed to the couch. "Okay, scratch that idea. What about Tempus?"

"You want to turn back _time_?" Piper asked shrilly.

"Hear me out," Phoebe said. "If we turn back time to just after we saved Paris and Paige from the Underworld, then we can stop Cole from taking Paris, which would mean he wouldn't have been able to kill her," she explained.

"But Phoebe, the only reason he took Paris was because…" Piper started. "Actually, why _did_ Cole take Paris?"

"She tried to vanquish him," Grams told them. Piper and Phoebe turned to look at her in surprise. "She wrote a spell… it was pretty clever actually – decided to include the names of our ancestors in it to get more power – but… it was way too powerful for her to say by herself and she was knocked out," Grams explained.

"Giving Cole the perfect opportunity to take her without us noticing…" Phoebe said slowly.

"Well, even if we do turn back time, who's to say Paris won't just do the same thing?" Piper asked. Phoebe shrugged, and then sighed.

"I don't know Piper. It was just an idea," she replied eventually. "Hey, I just had a thought… what _if_ … we someone trap Cole in a crystal circle and force him to either give us Paris, or tell us where she is?" Phoebe suggested.

"Do you think that will work?" Piper asked; looking at Grams and Leo as well.

"It might…" Leo nodded. A few hours later, and even though the crystal circle was ready, Piper and Phoebe were still trying to figure out a way to save Paris and Paige. Cole suddenly flamed in, and without meaning to, went into the open circle.

"I just thought I'd remind you that half of your time is up," he said with a smirk.

"It's a shame we'll be cutting that short," Piper said as she placed the final crystal down; trapping him. Cole laughed.

"You really think a crystal circle is going to destroy me?" he mocked.

"Where's Paris?" Phoebe asked.

"Now, why would I tell you?" Cole replied; sitting with his legs crossed on the floor.

"Just tell us Cole," Phoebe said. Cole shook his head, but did create a small window into the Underworld.

"See for yourself," he said. In the window, they could see Paris' body surrounded by lower-level demons. "She's being very well looked-after," Cole told them. "Although I _did_ have to put a circle around her to stop the demons from destroying her body… they can get… _peckish_ …" he smirked.

Leo, Piper and Grams had gone downstairs to start making a potion to get Paris back, so Phoebe had to look after Cole. She stepped close to the circle and looked at Cole. "I love you," Phoebe whispered.

Smiling, Cole said: "I knew you still did, Phoebe. Be my Queen,"

"I want to be. I really do, Cole," Phoebe replied. "But I want you to give Paris back – alive. And bring Paige back to life," she added softly.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Cole replied.

For a few minutes, Phoebe stayed silent, until Leo came back up. "How's the potion going?" Phoebe asked.

"Good," Leo replied; eyeing Cole suspiciously. "It should be done within the next hour,"

Phoebe smiled and nudged the crystal closest to her foot out of the circle. Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around Cole's waist and leaned up to kiss him passionately. "I want to be your Queen," she mumbled into their kiss.

Cole smiled, and, still kissing Phoebe, flamed out with her in his arms, leaving Leo alone in the attic.


	21. The Underworld

**Chapter Twenty-One: The Underworld**

Leo rushed downstairs. "Leo, where's the powdered grass seed?" Piper sighed impatiently.

"Piper, Phoebe went off with Cole; claiming that she wanted to be his Queen," Leo replied. Piper's jaw dropped in shock, and she dropped the knife she was using to cut the ingredients for the potion.

"Oh my God! I'm the only one left! What the hell was she thinking? Wandering off with Cole!" she said, starting to freak out.

"Piper," Grams sighed. "You really do underestimate your sister, don't you?"

"Grams, what are you on about?" Piper snapped.

"It was probably Phoebe's plan to get Cole to take her where Paris was so she could save her," Grams explained.

"Well, that's all well and good, but how on Earth is Phoebe going to get Paris' body back up here? She can't orb, so unless she finds a way to resurrect Paris and teaches her how to orb properly, they're both stuck down in the Underworld," Piper replied.

Grams sighed again. "Didn't I teach you _any_ thing?" she asked. Piper glared at her. "You haven't been able to find Paris because she technically isn't alive. Now that her and Phoebe are in the same place, scry for Phoebe instead. That way you and Leo can orb down there, save them, and bring them back here to find a way to bring Paris and Paige back to life," Grams explained slowly.

Piper thought for a few seconds. "Brilliant! My sister's a genius!" Piper exclaimed as she started rushing up to the attic.

~PO4~

Cole flamed into the Underworld, Phoebe in his arms, and Phoebe immediately broke away from him. She spotted Paris, who was still being watched by a couple of low-level demons, and went to rush over to her. But she was stopped by an invisible force as soon as she got close to her.

"Cole!" Phoebe begged.

"It's a protection spell. Those demons might have gotten to her otherwise," Cole replied, pretending he had been concerned about Paris' body being hurt by demons. He chuckled when Phoebe looked angry. "I knew you were bluffing," he told her.

"Just let her go!" Phoebe begged. She knew if she could just get Paris back up to Piper, they would figure something out to save both of them.

"I don't think I will," Cole said. "I think I'll keep you both down here with me," he swept his arm in Paris' direction and she stirred ever so slightly, and finally opened her eyes. Phoebe nearly started crying in relief.

"Phoebe," Paris barely managed to whisper. She attempted to sit up but her body was in a lot of pain. "Phoebe," she repeated.

"Paris, it's okay sweetie. You're going to be fine," Phoebe promised.

Cole chuckled. "I thought I told you not to lie to the poor girl?" he asked. Slowly, Paris moved her hand to try and reach out to Phoebe but was stopped by the protection spell Cole had put around her. She was trapped. She looked at Phoebe worriedly.

"Let her _go_ , Cole!" Phoebe ordered. Laughing again, Cole clicked his fingers, creating the same sort of circle around Phoebe, and flamed out. Paris started to cry. "We're gonna be okay," she croaked.

"Paige and Piper are gonna find us, right?" Paris mumbled.

Phoebe looked pained but nodded. "We'll be okay," she repeated.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You were... Cole. He killed you. And Paige. He killed Paige and –" Phoebe started to explain. She was cut off by Paris.

"Paige is dead?!"

"But we're going to save her," Phoebe said.

"We're trapped, Phoebe! To save her, we need us but to save us we need her!" Paris started to panic. "How are we supposed to save her?"

"We'll save her," Phoebe promised.


	22. A Plan

**Chapter Twenty-Two: A Plan**

Back at the Manor, Piper was desperately trying to scry for Phoebe in an attempt to find her remaining two sisters. She was pissed off, she was frustrated, and she was getting more and more worried as the minutes passed. There were only a few short hours before Cole would be returning and expecting Piper and Phoebe's decision. Well, Piper's decision, now.

"I can't get a hold on her!" Piper snapped. She had a very powerful urge to chuck the scrying crystal at the wall but decided against it: what use would that be? She needed to stay calm.

"You will, Piper. Just be patient," Leo tried. He put a hand on her back to comfort her.

"We have less than _eight_ hours before we have to choose!" she snapped. Sighing, Piper pressed her fingers to her temple. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't lose either Paige or Paris... she just couldn't _choose_ which sister she wanted to save.

"You know you have to choose to save Paige, right, Piper?" Grams said. She had been quiet for a while, thinking things through and trying to work something out.

"What?! No. I'll think of something, Grams. Phoebe and I... we'll think of something,"

"But if you haven't?" Grams asked.

Piper glared at the map as she continued to scry for Phoebe. "We _will_ ," she insisted. She couldn't understand why Grams was being so negative – _she_ was meant to be the pessimistic one, not Grams. If only Paige was alive, she'd stay positive. But then they wouldn't have been in this awful situation.

"Piper, if you save Paige, you can use the Power of Three to find Paris, like you did before. Plus, Paige is her Whitelighter so she should be able to sense her," Grams suggested. "Do that,"

"Cole will kill her, Grams! Didn't you hear him say that?" Piper said.

"He's bluffing, dear. It was an empty threat,"

Piper glanced up at Grams, worried. "But how can you be so sure?" she asked softly.

 **~4 hours later~**

Piper's arms ached. Her back ached. Her feet ached. She'd been standing up pretty much for the last 20 hours and she was exhausted. Once again, she chanted the to find a lost sister spell, to no avail. "Why isn't it working?" she muttered. She was close to tears and she was running out of hope. And time. "It should be working,"

"Cole must have known Phoebe was bluffing," Leo told her. It was an idea that he had had for an hour or so now.

"What does that _mean_?" Piper snapped. "What does that mean in terms of how many sisters I will have at the end of the day?" she was feeling every piece of hope draining her and wondered how much longer she could cope with this: not knowing.

"I don't know," he said gently.

"Two," Grams said sternly. "And by tomorrow, you'll have all three," she sounded confident in this decision, but Piper was doubtful.

"What are you talking about?" Piper asked.

"Cole wouldn't have hurt Phoebe, just trapped her in the Underworld," Grams started to explaining. "He loves her. So, take him up on his offer to save Paige, work with her – and me and Leo – to get Phoebe. And once you find Phoebe, you'll find Paris and then put her body in a crystal circle so Cole can't get to her and sleep on it. You can use the Power of Three tomorrow to save her life," she was very calm as she explained her idea.

"Will that work?" Piper asked her. Although she had been calm when she explained the idea, she now looked hopeless.

"It's the only plan we have," Leo replied.


	23. The Plan Is Poorly Executed

**Chapter Twenty-Three: The Plan Is Poorly Executed**

Just under an hour was left until Piper had to make the horrible decision to save Paige and depend on their abilities as witches to find Paris and then bring her back to life. Piper had been desperately thinking of new ways of going about it: flicking through the Book, scrying more, making up spells and potions, and even, at one point, trying to look it up on the internet. There was nothing.

And then Cole flamed in, as if he knew that taunting Piper was the worst thing he could have done at that point. "So," he started. Piper had been refusing to look up at him and instead was glaring into the Book and hoping he would just leave her alone. "Thought anymore about what you want to do?" he asked.

Piper, who was really beginning to wonder what Phoebe had ever seen in this man, looked up at the demon. He was smirking at her. "Where did you take Phoebe?" she asked him, ignoring his actual question.

"She's my _Queen_ , now Piper. And I asked you first," Cole replied.

Piper had a sudden urge to vanquish him but knew she couldn't because a) she was alone and probably not powerful enough and b) there was no way for her to save Paige, Paris and Phoebe if Cole was dead. "You're an evil bastard," she said instead.

"Ouch," Cole mocked; holding his hand over his heart. "No need to be so mean," he slowly walked over to the stand that the Book always stood on and went to touch it. It immediately slammed shut, almost on Piper's fingers. "Oh, my bad – I forgot I can't touch the Book anymore," his voice was mocking Piper again. She glared at him. "Have you chosen what you want to do yet? Will you lose your last sister? Or choose to bring Paige back so you can have one to mourn Phoebe and Paris with?"

"Do it," Piper said, with a look of determination on her face.

Cole looked surprised. "You want me to bring Paige back to life?" he asked.

"You heard me,"

"Well, well, well, what an unexpected turn of events," Cole smirked. He chuckled when he noticed the anger on Piper's face.

"Just do it, Cole," she ordered.

"Okay, okay," he assured her. He swept his hand over Paige's body, and she exhaled loudly, as though she had only been holding her breath the entire time, rather than dead. Paige groggily opened her eyes and Piper rushed over to her. "And then there were two,"

Cole flamed out and Piper's arms were quickly flung around Paige. "Woah there, sis. What's the matter with you?" Paige laughed. Piper didn't reply. "Can't breathe, Pipe," she added.

Piper loosened her grip and looked sadly at her little sister. "Oh, Paige," she mumbled. "You've been dead for over a day. I thought I had lost you," she told her. Paige's expression turned into one of confusion and she looked around the room. Grams had gone downstairs to work on a couple of potions and Leo had had to go to a charge.

"Where are Paris and Phoebe?" Paige asked. She smiled. "Over me already?" her joking tone was what made Piper start to cry. "What? What did I say?"

"Cole killed Paris as well. And then he took Phoebe – we thought if Phoebe went to the Underworld with him, she'd find Paris and then I could say the lost sister spell and bring us both to them," Piper started to explain. Paige looked horrified – Paris was just... _gone_? "Cole said we had to choose. You or neither of you. He gave us 24 hours. We thought... well, I thought I'd be able to think of a better solution but I couldn't and now Paris is stuck in the Underworld with Phoebe and Cole," she was rambling now, about how much she'd messed up.

"Piper..." Paige mumbled. "We can get her back. Course we can,"

"She's _dead_!" Piper snapped. "Grams says we can use the Power of Three to bring Paris back because she's not moved on yet but we don't have the Power of Three! Phoebe's stuck in the Underworld too,"

"Wait – Grams is here?" Paige glanced around. "Did she leave before I got back?"

"Paige, concentrate," Piper begged. Paige was still looking around the attic, distracted. Piper took her hands, which were cold from being dead for a whole day. "Grams is downstairs," she told her. "She's trying out a new potion which should hopefully save Paris,"

"That's fine then!" Paige smiled.

"No, none of this is _fine_ , Paige – our baby sister is dead. For the _second_ _time_ in a week," Piper snapped at her.

"Well, thank god social services doesn't know about that, otherwise she definitely would be able to stay with us anymore," the younger sister was trying to make a joke, to make the situation lighter. And it didn't really work, like she expected. Piper did manage to give Paige the smallest half-hearted smile, but it didn't go further than that. "We'll save her," Paige promised.

Piper and Paige were still sitting on the floor, so when Grams walked in, she rolled her eyes, despite being happy that her granddaughter was awake and chatting again. "Having fun down there, are you?" she asked.

"Grams!" Piper snapped. "You've been ages," both Charmed Ones stood up.

"Yes, well, potion brewing takes time, Piper," Grams replied. "Have you filled Paige in on the plan?" she asked.

"What _plan_ , Grams? The plan somehow goes from get Paige back to having all three of them back but how exactly do you _plan_ on doing that?" she asked, losing her temper suddenly at her grandmother's lack of concern for Phoebe and especially for Paris.

"You just need to find Phoebe and then you'll be taken to them both," she said calmly.

"But _how_?! The lost sister spell isn't working because Cole's blocked it somehow and Paige won't be able to sense Paris because she's dead," Piper ranted.

"We'll think of something, Piper," Paige said. "There's always a way,"


	24. An Argument and A Vanquish

**Chapter Twenty-Four: An Argument and a Vanquish**

Back in the Underworld, Paris and Phoebe were silently hoping Piper would hurry up and save them. Paris, who was still injured even though she wasn't dead anymore, had managed to sit up against the cave wall and was attempting to telekinetically move the rocks that were forming the circle around her. "It won't work," Phoebe told her for what felt like the 20th time.

"A little optimism would be nice," Paris muttered. She tried again and weakly let her arm fall down when it didn't work.

"It's blocking our magic. And even if it wasn't, you don't have enough energy to use your powers," Phoebe explained. Paris huffed and crossed her arms. "You can sit there and glare at me all you like but it won't change what I'm saying. You doing that is pointless and is wasting what little energy you have left,"

It was true, Paris looked a mess and she looked like death warmed over. She technically _was_ like death warmed over – Cole had killed her and then bought her back to life without actually healing her at all. Even in the dim light of the cave, Phoebe could see the ring of bruises around her neck from when Cole had strangled her, and her face was a mess of bruises and blood.

"What, so we're just gonna wait here until Piper finds us?" Paris muttered.

"There's nothing else we can _do_ , Paris, don't you get it? Paige is _dead_! She's _gone_. In order to save us, Piper needs to get her back," Phoebe explained impatiently.

"And what if she can't?" Paris mumbled.

"Then we're screwed," she whispered.

Paris' eyes filled with tears and she turned her body away from Phoebe. "I hate being a witch," she muttered. "I don't wanna be a witch anymore,"

"Paris, stop it," Phoebe sighed at her childish mutterings.

"No!" Paris snapped. "I had such a normal life before I met you! I went to school, I had friends, I went shopping, and now? I'm stuck in a cave and can't even use my stupid powers which is the only reason I was excited about being a witch and –" she was rambling, something that reminded her so much of Paige.

"Before you met us, your mother was a demon," Phoebe cut in.

"So, what?!" Paris exploded. "And she's still my mom!"

Phoebe turned to look at her. "How can you sit there and say that? She killed Prue!" she reminded her, her heart hurting. She didn't want to argue with Paris, she didn't want to risk the Power of Four breaking up again but she couldn't understand how Paris could sit there and admit that she still loved her demonic mom after finding out that she'd killed their oldest sister.

"Cole killed me and you still love _him_!" Paris argued with her.

"That's different," Phoebe replied immediately, even though it really wasn't...

"How?" she asked, nearly crying. "At least I can accept that my mom was evil! At least I vanquished her when you all asked me to and didn't wait for her to kill someone else! You didn't even _believe me_ when I told you Cole was the Source!"

"Just shut up about it!" Phoebe ordered; knowing she had lost the argument. She felt awful – of course, she hadn't wanted any of this to happen. She thought she'd be able to help Paris if she went down to the Underworld with Cole, but she just seemed to be making everything worse for her. Paris sniffed, trying to blink away her tears and once again tried to use her powers to move the circle. This time, Phoebe didn't stop her.

"I hate you," Paris muttered. "I hate being in this stupid family – I wish you guys had never found me,"

Phoebe ignored her and then gasped when she saw the familiar blue and white lights of an orb. Piper and Paige appeared. "Guys!" Phoebe said. "Paige, you're alive," she was so relieved.

"Yeah, I took Cole up on his offer, I thought it would be the only way to save Paige and then save Paris but... Paris... I thought you'd still be..." Piper trailed off as Paris snapped her head up at her.

"Sorry, no such luck," Paris muttered bitterly.

"What's up with her?" Paige asked Phoebe. Phoebe just shook her head to tell her not to ask. "Where's Cole?" she decided to ask instead.

"He flamed out," Phoebe replied.

"Guess again," Cole's voice said from behind them. He flung Paige into the rock wall and Piper rushed to break the circles trapping her sisters. Already knowing what was expected of her, Paris immediately went to heal Paige. As Paige woke up, Paris felt Cole's strong arms around her and she screamed out.

"Let go of her, Cole!" Phoebe ordered. He was holding one arm tightly around Paris and in the other, he conjured a knife which he put to Paris' throat. Paris grasped at his arm, trying to get him to let go of her.

"Let her go!" Paige ordered.

"The spell," Phoebe muttered. "The one Paris made up,"

"Say the spell, and I'll kill your precious sister," Cole threatened. Paris whimpered in her arms as the knife dug into her flesh. She finally let her tears fall and made a desperate noise under her breath.

"Say the _spell_ , you three," Piper ordered.

Paris shook her head as Cole pressed the knife deeper against her neck. She was properly crying now. " _Prudence, Penelope, Patricia_ ," Paige started. Cole moved the knife away from Paris' throat.

"I'm warning you," Cole said.

" _Astrid, Melinda, Laura and Grace_ ," Paris said. She felt the knife at her back and closed her eyes.

"I'm not bluffing," Cole warned.

" _Halliwell witches stand strong beside us,"_ Piper continued, ignoring Cole. Paris was crying. "Phoebe!" Piper snapped. Cole thrust the knife into Paris' back and she cried out but he didn't let go. She fought against him, trying to get him off her.

" _Vanquish this evil from time and space!"_ Phoebe finished the spell and Cole yelled out, dropping the knife and letting go of Paris, who fell to her knees in pain. She was on all fours and sobbing as Cole screamed behind her and was finally vanquished. Paris fell forward, flat, and her sisters ran up to her. "No, no, no," Phoebe was muttering. Paris' eyes were closed.

 _Paris, I told you I didn't want to see any of you yet._


	25. Gone For Good

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Gone For Good**

Paris' head ached. It was throbbing; thumping, as if she'd been hit with a brick or a shovel, or maybe a baseball bat. "Paris, I thought I told you I didn't want to see any of you yet?" Paris somehow managed to peel open her eyes at the slightly familiar voice in the distance.

"Prue?" she murmured, sitting up, and wincing as she felt her head spin. Paris glanced around at her surroundings and started to panic – where was she? Why was everything so bright? Where were Piper, Phoebe and Paige? How had she left the cave? Was Cole vanquished, or had they failed? Prue, her dark hair moving as she walked, smiled at her youngest sister.

"What happened to not seeing any of you yet?" she asked with a sad smile.

Paris stared at her and felt her head thumping. She couldn't understand why her head hurt, when Cole had stabbed her in the back. "What is this place?" she asked, although she guessed what the answer was.

Prue sat next to her on the bench she had woken up on. "I think you already know," she said. All of Paris' fears flooded her mind.

"No," Paris begged, shaking her head. "No, I don't want to be dead,"

Her eyes filled with tears and Prue, noticing how upset her sister was, brought her in to a tight hug. Paris rested her head on Prue's shoulder and tried not to cry. "It's going to be okay," Prue promised.

~PO4~

Piper had fallen to her knees in a similar fashion to Paris and was now clutching her youngest sister to her body. "Leo!" Phoebe shouted, as Paige and her joined Piper by Paris' side. Leo orbed in. "Heal her," Phoebe begged, almost crying.

Leo rushed forward, his hands glowing, attempted to heal Paris... nothing happened. "Why isn't it _working_?" Piper shouted.

"I can't –" Leo started to admit.

"Do not finish that sentence Leo!" Phoebe snapped.

~PO4~

"Is it scary? To die," Paris asked her sister. "I know I technically _am_ already dead, but I haven't... I haven't gone towards the light yet. Did it scare you?" the pair were sitting next to each on the bench now, and no longer hugging.

"Not at all," Prue mumbled. "The hardest part was leaving everyone behind," at these words, Paris let her head fall forward weakly. She didn't _want_ to die – she was 14, she was too young. She still had so much to do in her life – she hadn't even graduated high school yet!

"Do you miss them?" she asked.

"Every day," Prue said softly. Paris looked back at her sister and Prue tucked Paris' hair behind her ear. "Sometimes they get it wrong. Sometimes there are still ways to save you, even if you're already here. As long as you haven't... _walked towards the light_ yet, there's still a chance Piper, Phoebe and Paige can bring you back," Prue assured her.

"Won't you be lonely again?" Paris asked. "If they can save me..." she hoped her sisters _were_ figuring out a way to save her, but didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Sure," Prue shrugged. "I won't have my sisters, but I have other people,"

"Like who?" Paris asked.

"Mom, Grams," Prue listed. "Andy," her eyes darted down to the wedding ring on her finger and she smiled.

"Andy?" Paris teased. "Who's _Andy_?"

"We were childhood friends and started dating when we were in high school. We broke up when he moved to Portland to become a cop and then he came back to town right around the time the four of us got our powers," Prue explained. "I managed to hide me being a witch from him for a few months but I eventually told him and then he was killed by a demon,"

"Oh. That sucks," Paris replied. "At least you're together now,"

"Yeah," Prue smiled.

"So, my only company will be old people?" she joked.

"Hey, watch it," Prue laughed. She put her arm around Paris' shoulders. "We'll have to go soon, Paris," she said sadly.

"What? No! You have to give them a chance," Paris begged.

"I'm sorry, Paris – there's only a small window where your fate can be reversed and if they don't save you in that window..." Prue started to explain but Paris was shaking her head.

"That's not fair!" she insisted.

"I know it's not fair but I don't make up the rules," Prue replied. Paris began to cry – she had been holding off on it, optimistic that she might not die because of what Prue had told her, and now the seriousness of her situation was starting to sink in.

"I don't want to die!" Paris begged her sister. Prue went to hug her but Paris stood up. "I'm only 14! I'm too young to die!"

"Paris –"

"No! No, I'm not going!" Paris said stubbornly. She began to run off in the opposite direction to the wall of light. Prue stayed put: this section of the afterlife only went on for so long and Paris would eventually be running back towards the bench. She felt awful for being the one to give Paris the information that she was going to die, but at least she could try and comfort her as she moved on.

~PO4~

Leo was still trying to heal Paris. It hadn't been very long, only about 2 minutes, but the three remaining Halliwells were starting to really worry about actually losing their youngest sister. "Guys," Leo started quietly. He lowered his hands.

"No," Paige snapped. "Don't just _stop_ , Leo!"

"She's passed on, Paige," he tried.

"No, she hasn't!" Piper told him. "She can't just be... she can't be gone!" Phoebe, who was the sister holding Paris in her arms, started to cry.

"Come on, kiddo," she begged. "Come on,"

"You have to save her!" Piper said to her husband.

"I can't heal the dead, Piper, I'm sorry," Leo said softly. Piper started to cry now, and Paige shook her head.

"What if I help? And if we hold Paris' hand too – include _her_ power – we might be strong enough," Paige asked the whitelighter. Leo glanced at the Halliwell's desperate expressions and nodded.

"It'll be worth a try," he agreed. Him and Paige clasped hands and then each took a hand of Paris' and then started to heal again.

~PO4~

As Prue had expected, Paris came running back in about 5 minutes. She looked devastated when she noticed Prue still sitting on the bench. Paris stopped dead and looked as though she was about to start crying again.

Prue walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "It's going to be okay, sweetie," she mumbled.

"I don't want to die," Paris croaked.

"I know you don't," Prue said softly. "I know," she looked down at Paris and saw her fading. Prue's heart leaped – had they saved her just in time? "Paris – how do you feel?"

"What?"

"How do you feel? Do you feel lighter? Do you feel like you're being pulled somewhere?" Prue asked. Paris pulled herself out of Prue's arms and glanced down at her hands, which were starting to fade.

"What's happening to me?" Paris asked, nearly crying.

Prue hugged her again. "They're saving your life," she whispered. "Look after yourself, P – and tell them I said hi,"

"Prue..." she muttered; almost completely faded out now.

"I love you," Prue promised. Before Paris could reply, she completely disappeared out of Prue's arms.

~PO4~

Paris gasped and spluttered breathlessly. She attempted to sit up but Phoebe's arms were already around her. "Oh my god," Phoebe muttered. Piper wiped her tears away and stared at Paris, who looked deathly pale. Paris' heart was beating fast and she hugged Phoebe back, grateful that she was alive again.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked her softly. Paris nodded ever so slightly, still freaked out about how close to the afterlife she had been – when she had been dead before, that hadn't happened at all.

"What happened to Cole?" Paris asked Phoebe.

"He's gone sweetie. He's gone for good," she replied.

"Let's go home," Piper added.

* * *

 **A/N:** And that's the end of the story - 2.5 years, nearly 20,000 words and 25 chapters. There will be a sequel soon, called _Returned_ , which will start at the beginning of canon season 5 but won't follow any of the plot points in that, apart from Piper's pregnancy and (possibly) Cole's return.


End file.
